Summary

Dillon Thieneman (22 years old) is a safety who began his college career at Purdue (2023–2024) before transferring to Oregon for the 2025 season. In 2025, Thieneman started throughout the season and recorded 74 total tackles, four interceptions, and nine pass breakups, serving as the centerpiece of Oregon’s secondary and a versatile presence in both deep coverage and run support. His performance earned him First-Team All-Big Ten honors and All-America consideration, building on his earlier Freshman All-America recognition and All-Big Ten accolades at Purdue. Thieneman has maintained solid academic standing throughout his career and is widely viewed as a high-IQ, film-driven defender whose instincts and preparation habits consistently draw praise from coaches, with no publicly reported significant off-field incidents. Teammates point to his communication skills and command of the secondary as indicators of his leadership presence. From an injury standpoint, he has been durable across his career, with no major injuries causing extended absences, reinforcing his reliability as a starting-caliber safety.

Strengths

Anticipation Station: Displays outstanding anticipation and timing, consistently putting himself in position for interceptions and pass breakups. Trusts his instincts and isn’t hesitant to attack throwing lanes.
Home on the Range: Covers significant ground as a single-high or split-safety defender, closing windows quickly and can operate from a single-high capacity with ease. Comfortable rotating between deep safety, robber looks, and intermediate zone responsibilities.
Click & Close: Reads the passer’s eyes effectively and drives downhill with confidence on in-breaking routes. Adjusts smoothly to the flight of the ball and finishes plays cleanly at the catch point.
Physical run support presence: Triggers decisively into the box and finishes tackles with force. Plays with edge and urgency, embracing contact and high-leverage moments.

Weaknesses

Risky Business: Will jump routes at times, leaving potential space behind him for double moves. Quick downhill trigger can be manipulated by well-designed misdirection.
Man Coverage Polish: More natural in zone than mirroring shifty slot receivers one-on-one.
Open Field Angles: Can occasionally overrun plays due to aggressive pursuit paths. At times arrives high, leading to missed wrap-ups against stronger runners.
Block Shedding: Bigger receivers and tight ends can tie him up when he fits the run aggressively.

Outlook

Thieneman projects as an instinctive, rangy centerfielder with excellent ball skills, route recognition, and the toughness to drive downhill in run support, giving him true three-level impact on the back end. He fits best in multiple-coverage defenses that lean on split-safety, quarters, and disguise principles, where he can rotate post-snap, play top-down from depth, and use his anticipation to create turnovers rather than living strictly in the box. A versatile scheme with heavy disguise concepts like Brian Flores’ in Minnesota would be exceptional for Thieneman to thrive. Thieneman is trending as a Round 1 prospect with top-20 upside in the 2026 NFL Draft, especially given the premium placed on versatile safeties who can cover and take the ball away.

Pro Comparison: Cooper DeJean

Team Fits: MIN, CIN, NE, PHI, NYJ

Report written by Filip Prus